Reading & Language Arts

“The Wood Acres School believes a strong reading foundation is the key to a child’s academic success.”

Read to me! It is an everyday occurrence in the Wood Acres Early School. With an overall goal of creating competent readers who love to read, we begin a formal pre-reading curriculum early in the Two and Three Year Old Programs. Children who have rich language experiences and are familiar with many words through listening and speaking are well prepared for later print mastery. The Four Year Old Program takes students through familiar classic children’s stories and guides them through early reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities that form a foundation for success in Wood Acres comprehensive Grammar and Upper School Language Arts curriculums.

Wood Acres students reading in “The Stacks” libraryWith an outstanding early childhood reading foundation established, students are ready to succeed in the one-of-a-kind Grammar School reading program. Through its superior method of phonics instruction, engaging stories, and research-based skill development, primary grade students soar in both reading mastery and a love of literature.

Wood Acres comprehensive reading series allows teachers in the Grammar School to partner in the journey to “learn to read and read to learn.” Explicit and systematic instruction in phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, English, writing and other language arts skills are presented through excellent selections of literature, supplemental reading, novel studies, and additional academic programs. Application of these academic skills completes the cycle of learning to read through engaging projects, journals, creative writing, poetry, classic literature and the pride of saying to his/her parents, “Now I can read to you!”

In the Upper School students utilize their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in a traditional language arts setting as well as applied in other academic areas. Instruction in this area occurs both within each academic subject as well as via cross-disciplinary programming to facilitate analysis, synthesis and evaluation of literature. Enriching the literature program are novel studies in various reading genres and the implementation of the Junior Great Books program. The Junior Great Books assist students in developing essential literacy skills including reading carefully, thinking critically, listening intently and speaking and writing persuasively. Students become adept in the art of Socratic questioning techniques which well prepares them for advanced literature coursework in high school and beyond.